Heyho, recently someone asked for the silliest reasons, but as someone who has suggested linux to many people, I often encounter people having valid reasons for staying with Windows or switching back.
The most boring but valid one is “I have to use Windows for work. It is a requirement (of some software I have to use)”. But there are also other answers that fit. My sister for example tried Linux, but while installing software constantly encountered issues that I helped her solve and eventually switched back because she felt like she had less control than over windows. While I am aware that this is fundamentally wrong, it is valid that some amateur users do not want to invest enough time to get over the initial hurdles of relearning how to install software.
What are the best reasons people have given you for not wanting to try Linux?
Something equivalent to…“I just want to drive the car, not learn about the intricacies of internal combustion”.
Funnily enough, driving a manual car is interacting with intricacies of its drive and the internal combustion
The same reason everybody gives when dealing with pretty much anything: “I don’t want to learn something new”.
This is sort of a compilation of things I have heard:
Too many distros to choose from and I tried a couple of the ones that were supposed to be good for new users, but had issues that I found too annoying to ignore. And when I tried to get help online, I got rude responses from Linux users who just seemed to assume that I was a young guy that ought to learn how to code and fix my own problems (I am not young and I will never be a coder) or accused me of wanting to be “spoon fed” the answer (yes I do, and exactly what is wrong with that? When I ask a question in an Apple-related forum people there have no problem just giving me an answer if they have one!). So I turned to AI for answers so that I didn’t get all that attitude, and AI is great when it gives you correct answers but very often it just made shit up, and it’s hard to tell if it’s giving you a correct answer or hallucinating. And even an AI doesn’t know everything, not yet anyway.
I live in a rural area and there are no local sources of help that I’m aware of, and definitely no Linux user groups if those are even still a thing now, but even if there are, if they were using a different distribution than whatever I am trying to run they probably couldn’t help much.
Oh, and I absolutely hate typing stuff at a command prompt, I may do it occasionally to fix some weird issue (assuming someone else tells me what to type) but all the normal stuff should be doable using a GUI app. My Macintosh hardly ever asks me to type anything at the command line and that is how I like it! I am a computer USER, not a programmer, not a coder, not someone who wants to spend a great deal of time “learning” a new operating system. I want to be able to turn the computer on, read my email, browse the web, watch YouTube videos, type and print the occasional letter, save and view/play my photos and music, etc and not have the operating system get in my way, or force me to try to learn how it works internally.
And the final reason is that only Linux users still seem to think that reading a bunch of documentation is a prerequisite to using a computer, I have yet to see one good video that explains to someone that has never used Linux before how to use it (an “explain like I’m 5 - or 10 - and this is my first ever experience with a desktop computer that happens to be running Linux” type video). It is wonderful that so much random documentation exist but hardly anyone is going to just start reading it as if it were an instruction manual on how to build a garden shed, and even if they tried, anyone that doesn’t have a photographic memory will quickly forget everything they’ve read because so much of it makes no sense at all to anyone who is not already very experienced with Linux. Nor will they remember all the options associated with various Linux commands that are typically shown in such documentation.
Like I said, kind of a compilation of things I have read or heard, and I didn’t even get into the gaming stuff because I’m not personally into that and therefore don’t really understand the issues there.
“The file system layout is dumb. What the fuck is /etc? Also I hate using terminal”
But… what actually is etc, opt, var, dev, bin, usr, local?
especially coming from windows…
there is no “Getting started” guide from the OS, you got to read a book or something to learn this…
during my early day i thought:
- etc = etcetra? I put random my own stuff here?
- opt = options? Do i put my configuration here?
- dev = develop? Is this where debugging symbol or devtool live?
- local = this must be where my local profile is located?
- usr = user? Or is this where my local profile is located?
- var = huh?
- lib = library? huh why?
- media = my media folder where i put my images and video?
lol
Counterpoint
Does your average windows user know what any of Windows top level folders mean?
Some might think they do. But then very few programs respect the Windows standards, so…
The people who gave me their reasons for not using Linux do indeed know, and since this is a thread about best reasons not to use Linux, there isn’t much need to argue the point of “no, it’s the users that are wrong”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filesystem_Hierarchy_Standard
Also:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix_filesystem
Has a breakdown of what each has referred to, historically
I’ve been using Linux for a long time and I don’t know any of this really.
Basically, home directory is for everything, unless some instructions say some other path.
They rely on AutoHotkey.
It’s true, Linux doesn’t have anything close to AHK.
I can give you reasons I have for not installing Linux on one of my laptops:
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Intel graphics support, or the absence of it;
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decent touchscreen support (Windows Ink);
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WSL which I use with NixOS, and it does simplify most of my dev needs;
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unfortunately, Adobe apps which I still heavily rely on (I’d wish I had an alternative),
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PowerPoint (again, I’d wish I had an alternative).
If you want to comment: "oh but have you tried Affinity, Pixie, Only Office, Libre Impress, reveal.js, {enter your fav presentation/photo editing tool} – yes I have, and no, unfortunately, it’s not even close. Also, to be clear, I’ve never paid, and never will for the Windows/Adobe products.
(e) PowerPoint (again, I’d wish I had an alternative).
Oh for ducks’ sakes… just make pdf slides, do you really need animation and/or transitions? They are going to be a proufoudly horrible and disconcertingly awkward mind searing experience anyway
i use neither animations nor transitions. but i do extensively use movies (which have a horrible support in Impress), and i use lots of equations (which you can enable using third-party plugins in Impress, but working with them is very difficult).
i’ve been bitten twice when i’ve been traveling on a conference and had to quickly put up slides in Impress, and ended up not being able to do what i wanted because of all of its limitations. i ended up using reveal.js, but that also has its own drawbacks, e.g., the lack of UI, which i can use to quickly fine-tune arrows, text positions etc.
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TFT and office, mostly. Libreoffice isn’t valid, mostly because Microsoft intentionally breaks their own formats, but yeah.
"I can’t install it on my phone. I only got a phone.
Hey, uh, you got any crystal?"
Solidworks not being supported.
The solution I’m working on is to connect to a Windows computer via moonlight for their solidworks stuff, hopefully freeing up the potential to do Linux on their main machine
They didn’t want to constantly rely on me to fix every little thing they break instead of learning how to do it themselves.
No wait, that was my reason for not switching them. 😆
This except I convinced my parents they didn’t actually need a computer in their lives anymore. It is win-win.
… Do you not have to deal with that already?
Thats why I switched them. And didnt give admin rights.
(I manage updates remotely)
I feel like we shouldn’t call them “admin rights”, it implies you should automatically get them.
My mum used to say “it’s a privilege, not a right” when I was young and I reflect on that when she calls me up because she can’t install some virus on her laptop without my password and I explain that the system is performing as expected.
I’m referring to certain people. I’ve transitioned people over and help them out with it, like my dad for instance who I have no expectations that he’d learn what a dotfile even is much less troubleshoot a problem.
For one of my friends its just cause she has a shitload going on and enough problems to deal with without trying to figure out a new way for her computer to work and whatnot
Plus I think art stuff she uses doesn’t support linux and she found krita unsuitable for how she likes to work
“I really only use the PC for gaming. Mostly, I play Valorant.”
There ya go, you’re not getting that working under Linux even if you are a master tinker. 🤷♂️ He did eventually switch, but not until long after he stopped playing Valorant regularly.
Some reasons are silly, some are incredibly valid. Sometimes it’s just “I don’t want to” and that’s OK too, lol.
I am very pro Linux but “I like Windows” is valid enough for me. I might ask why but I am not going to act like that reason is invalid.
If they like Windows 11 I’d distance myself and watch my back while I’m doing it. Windows 10 was OK, 7 was great, 8 was at least not completely shit but the vibe coded mess of 11 can only appeal to serial killers or Hellraisers.
The people that say this probably never upgraded from Windows 10. Nobody who uses Windows 11 likes Windows (except my friend who works in software development, I don’t know what’s going on in his head).
I have windows 11 on my gaming PC and work laptop and don’t think it’s any worse than 10. Some UI is confused between old style and new, but Windows has done that since Vista. 11 doesn’t have so much of the awful drop-downs without borders and so on where you can’t tell where one component ends and another starts.
He’s a Windows security researcher. I felt dumb.
Couldn’t he still use Linux for his personal system?
He could, but he documents a lot of stuff including artifacts, so it just makes more sense to do all on a single machine. Also plays LoL.
Adobe software, autoCAD, and anticheat are the top 3 reasons I usually hear. While there are alternatives for the first two, people who need these specific tools professionally don’t really have the choice.
Anticheat for gaming is a big one too. Personally I didn’t even consider switching until I finally quit Destiny 2 for good. If the main game someone plays just doesn’t work, they’re not gonna switch.
Personally I didn’t even consider switching until I finally quit Destiny 2 for good. If the main game someone plays just doesn’t work, they’re not gonna switch.
I’ve been running Linux as my main system for about 30 yers. During that time I’ve had a Windows partition or disk, on and off purely to run steam. Having to wait an extra thirty seconds to run a game was never an issue. And I could still do my stuff in a comfortable environment (once you’ve gotten used to a Unix desktop, you’ll suffer so much in Windows).
Do you work with CAD programs and if so, do you know a full feature alternative? I grew up with Linux because my father had unix at work before CAD program makers moved to windows and nowadays he has windows because that is where his CAD programs work. He is in retirement already, but very much a creature of habit. So while he has time to learn something new, radically different controls or such wouldn’t work out.
I use commercial CAD. CATIA for car bodies. There is no FOSS alternative that comes close for my work. But the light at the end of the tunnel is, many CAD systems, including CATIA, are going web based. So users just need a browser on any OS. And the back end can be what it wants.
My father worked in machine development, I believe AutoCAD was actually one of the programs they used. I am sceptical when it comes to browser based versions utilising the full power of the system, interesting development for sure though.
Yes I have no interest in having a browser in the way. But 2 things. Firstly CATIA in a browser is just the same CATIA running on a remote PC somewhere. It’s the same program. And secondly, as longvas the UI looks and works the same, with no delays, then it’ll be fine. Sure you can’t use it when your wifi or Internet is down or slow, or the provider has power or Internet issues. And your customer is not a military or super secrecy case. But its clearly expecting to find a market.
I mean the bigwigs often have some kind of licensing that needs internet access if some kind anyway. So no internet is often an issue, even with the program on the pc itself.
Unfortunately not, just something I hear a lot from folks.
Thank you for taking time to reply anyhow!
Depends what he’s looking for. I think Onshape (browser based CAD) has a free version. Your data is public though unless you go with a paid version.
If he wants a free Linux CAD there is FreeCAD and a few others.
If he is attending a university, as some retirees do to audit courses or enrich life, then Siemens NX (what GM, Stellantis, SpaceX, etc use) have an academic license for around $100 a year. It is now Windows only based, unless you run Linux headless version, but if you use any version NX12 or below there is a GUI LInux version that runs on REL or SUSE (or openSUSE since it shares SUSE binaries)
Are any of those comparable in power to things like AutoCAD?
FreeCAD is a step below the AutoCAD suite. On shape is comparable for mechanical design. Siemens NX is top tier only matched in high end functions by CATIA. NX and CATIA dominate in Automotive, and Aerospace.
Thank you for the detailed answer. Maybe there is a way to find NX like you said, will certainly let him know.
It is very expensive, so ideally join a uni or school program that has acedemic licenses.
